June 1
1800s 1900s *1906 - Women appeared at the Polo Grounds ticket windows for the first time. Coincidentally, new ticket-selling machines were also introduced. *1910 - The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 10–5, before a chilly crowd of 800 fans at Baker Bowl. It was the 14 loss for the Phillies in their last 15 games. The Cardinals were paced by leadoff hitter Miller Huggins, who had no official at bats in six appearances, the first time this had ever happened in major league history. Huggins walked in his first three at-bat, hit a sacrifice fly and a sacrifice bunt in the next two, and walked with the bases loaded in the eighth inning to drive in the lead run. At the end of the season, Huggins will lead the National League with 116 walks. 1910s *1917 - Boston Braves catcher Hank Gowdy became the first major league player to enlist in the military service during World War I. Gowdy will also serve in World War II, making him the only major leaguer to serve in both wars. *1918 - Losing 5–4 against the Yankees, the Chicago White Sox loaded the bases in the ninth inning with no outs. Chick Gandil lined a shot to third baseman Frank Baker, who turned it into a game-ending triple play. 1920s *1923 - Scoring in every inning, the New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies at Baker Bowl, 22–8. It is the first time in 20th century a team scored in every inning. *1925 - Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees pinch-hit for Pee Wee Wanninger, beginning his streak of playing in 2,130 consecutive games. The next day, first baseman Wally Pipp showed up with a headache, and Gehrig took over. 1930s *1937 - Bill Dietrich of the Chicago White Sox pitched a no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns in an 8–0 win. 1940s *1941 - Mel Ott hit a two-run home run, the 400th of his major league career and his 1,499th and 1,500th RBI, helping the New York Giants to a 3–2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. *1943 - Rip Sewell of the Pittsburgh Pirates patented his "eephus" or “blooper ball” pitch, which travel as high as 25 feet above the ground before dropping into the strike zone. Sewell will use the pitch on his way to a 20-win campaign. *1944 - Washington Senators outfielder Stan Spence went 6-for-6 in an 11–5 win over the St. Louis Browns. Spence, who collected five singles and a home run, will finish the season with a .316 batting average and career highs in home runs (18) and runs batted in (100). 1950s *1951 - The Pittsburgh Pirates waived first baseman Dale Long to the St. Louis Browns, who sent him to the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League. Long will be back in Pittsburgh for the 1955 season. *1955 - Duke Snider hit three home runs at Ebbets Field, helping the Brooklyn Dodgers to an 11–8 victory over the Milwaukee Braves. The Dodgers also set a franchise record with six home runs. 1960s *1965 - Bob Veale of the Pittsburgh Pirates set a franchise record by striking out 16 batters in the 4–0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. It was the 12 consecutive victory for Pittsburgh. *1968 - Joe Hoerner of the St. Louis Cardinals tied the National League record for most consecutive strikeouts by a relief pitcher. Horner stroke out the final six batters he faced and earned the win in a 6–5 victory over the New York Mets. 1970s *1975 - California Angels Nolan Ryan's 100th career victory was a memorable one as he beat the Baltimore Orioles, 1–0 and tied Sandy Koufax's big league mark by pitching his fourth no-hitter. *1977 - Ruppert Jones of the Seattle Mariners hit a home run off Dennis Eckersley in the fifth inning to snap Eckersley's no-hit string of 22 1-3 innings, just two outs short of the major league record set by Cy Young. The Indians beat Seattle, 7–1. 1980s *1987 - Phil Niekro pitched the Cleveland Indians to a 9–6 victory, his 314th, over the Detroit Tigers. The win gave himself and his brother, Joe, a major league record 530 combined victories, surpassing the mark set by the Perry brothers, Gaylord and Jim. 1990s *1992 - Devon White of the Toronto Blue Jays became just the sixth player in major league history to hit both a leadoff home run and an extrainning homer in the same game. He also became the 56th switch-hitter in the majors to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game. Toronto defeated the Minnesota Twins, 5–3. *1995 - In the amateur draft, the California Angels selected first pick Darin Erstad. He will sign for a $1.6 bonus, the highest signing bonus to date. Picking next, the San Diego Padres selected Ben Davis, the Seattle Mariners pick José Cruz, Jr., and the Chicago Cubs followed with Kerry Wood. Other picks included Ariel Prieto (Oakland Athletics), Todd Helton (Colorado Rockies), Jonathan Johnson (Texas Rangers), Geoff Jenkins (Milwaukee Brewers), Sean Casey (Cleveland Indians), Carlos Beltrán (Kansas City Royals), and Gabe Kapler (Detroit Tigers). *1997 - At Dolphin Stadium, Colorado Rockies rookie pitcher John Thomson batted his first four major league hits, collected three RBI, and earned his first win, 9–2, over the Florida Marlins. 2000s *2000: **Tomo Ohka of the Pawtucket Red Sox became the third pitcher in the 117-year history of the International League to throw a nine-inning perfect game when he beat the Charlotte Knights 2–0. **As owners struggled over realignment, the players' association suggested a simpler plan which only moves the Houston Astros from the NL Central to the AL West thus creating two 15-team leagues. The owners' ideas would have the newest franchises, Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks, switching leagues, the elimination of the NL wild-card, and AL Central consisting of six-teams to go along with five divisions with only four teams. *2001 - At Yankee Stadium, Cleveland defeated New York, just in five and a half innings, when the game was called because of rain with Cleveland ahead, 7–2. In a rarity, Cleveland starter C.C. Sabathia earned a win despite pitching only four innings. Relief pitcher Ricardo Rincón got the save retiring the side in the fifth inning. The baseball rules state that in a five-inning game, a starter need not go the full five to earn a victory. Baseball historian David W. Smith noted that there are just five other cases since 1978 to match the Sabathia feat. http://www.retrosheet.org/ *2005 - Miguel Tejada hit a home run, three doubles and scored three runs to lead the Baltimore Orioles 9–3 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Births *1846 - Andy Leonard, outfielder (d. 1903) *1887 - Dixie Walker, pitcher (d. 1965) *1896 - Johnny Mostil, outfielder (d. 1970) *1931 - Hal Smith, All-Star catcher *1935 - Jack Kralick, All-Star pitcher *1941 - Dean Chance, All-Star pitcher *1942 - Randy Hundley, All-Star catcher *1942 - Ken McMullen, infielder *1973 - Derek Lowe, All-Star pitcher *1977 - Brad Wilkerson, outfielder *1981 - Carlos Zambrano, All-Star pitcher Deaths *1957 - Pete Schneider, pitcher (b. 1895) *1970 - George Watkins, outfielder (b. 1900) *1973 - Fred Heimach, pitcher (b. 1901) *1980 - Rube Marquard, Hall of Fame pitcher (b. 1886) *2003 - Johnny Hopp, All-Star outfielder (b. 1916)